


ready or not

by orphan_account



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, M/M, Minor Angst, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 12:23:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12168813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Your town looks small from up here, and his smile is just blinding.





	ready or not

**Author's Note:**

> there's no outstanding plot or porn here. it was an experiment i didn't hate the outcome of. enjoy?

He drives you out, past the 7/11 that marks the edge of your pretty little city. Drives until you hit dirt road and the ride gets bumpy, drives until the tree leaves hang thick above the top of the car, drives until the city –  _your_ city – is off in the distance.   
  
He hums, quiet for once, barely a murmur over the tumble and shaking of the truck –  _his_ truck.   
  
And then the leaves above your head give way to blue sky fading purple fading orange fading into the start of night. The headlights of the car are bright, even if it’s not that dark yet, guiding the way along this well-travelled dirt path.   
  
He drives along it, fiddles with the radio – it was playing rock music, your choice – and gets a station playing pop. He sings along to almost every song that comes on as he drives you up, up, up to the top of the hill at the end of the dirt path.   
  
He parks, not far from the edge, nothing but you, the dashboard of the car and a metal railing the runs along the edge of the hill.   
  
(You can remember what it looked like without the railings, can still remember Jongdae heaving, and Kyungsoo almost calling 911 – eyes open wide and shocked – because you had taken a tumble over the edge and nearly fallen into the heavy forest that runs around the side of hill in every which way besides the way you’ve come up today.)   
  
He cuts the engine and lets the silence settle in. The sky’s dark now, nothing but a shimmer of light blue left far on the horizon. Your city looks nice from up here, a spotty sea of lights. You can see a group of cars pull out from the diner on Owen Road and then turn left on Rosalyn. They’re going to the theatre, it always runs movies this late. You’d probably be there too if you weren’t, well-   
  
Here.  
  
You want to say something, have all these words piled up, but they’ve got nowhere to go, stuck in the tightness of your throat.   
  
He speaks first, “I told you, that I applied to that music school. The famous one, right?”  
  
You nod, how could you forget? It’s all he’s talked about since you were kids, toddling around with a play piano and play guitar, Jongdae screaming into a plastic microphone and Kyungsoo tapping along with whatever miscellaneous instrument he’s gotten his hands onto.   
  
He pauses, and you brace yourself, pull up your walls and wait for it all to go off-  
  
“I got accepted, so I’m going.”  
  
-and it does go off, but not in the way you wanted. The words you thought would tumble out of your throat suddenly feel like they’re choking you, it’s hard to breathe (hard to breathe, hard to breathe, oh god why is it so hard to breathe?) and yet you manage to speak.  
  
“That’s fucking awesome man,” you say. “Dude, you’re going to be like, famous.”  
  
He laughs, bright eyed with all his teeth, “I know, holy shit it’s like my dream come true. Dude, when I got the welcome package it felt so surreal like-”  
  
And it cuts out, fades to white noise in your ears and suddenly the choking gives way to falling. You’re just falling, falling, falling, but Baekhyun’s smile makes it worth it. The light in his eyes and the excitement in his expression, it’s all worth falling for.   
  
Or at least, that’s what you tell yourself.


End file.
